This article you're about to read is one of those examples where I wanted to give an extra bit of spotlight attention to a newer band I'm currently psyched on.
Coming out of Kiruna, Sweden, I'd like to introduce you to Invader. Don't get it twisted, my friends; Invader isn't out here trying to fix something that isn't broken. The band plays '90s death metal-kissed metallic hardcore, but they do it damn well.
"The initial idea was to play crossover/thrash and we wrote some songs but it sounded boring as fuck, like a very tasteless and uninteresting riff-salad," vocalist Walle told me via email about Invader's early stages. "So we switched things up, swapped instruments, tried different stuff and found our way to some sort of mix between raw hardcore and old-school death metal that we all felt comfortable with and also sounded a lot more interesting."
Walle offered up some of Invader's touchstone influences: "Some bands that we’re inspired by or straight up stealing from are: Obituary, Anti Cimex, Morbid Angel, Skourge, and Celtic Frost. We’re influenced by a lot of bands and different styles and we’re not exactly trying to copy or worship any of them. We want to do different stuff and we try to mix it all into something that still makes sense, and not just some idiotic mish mash."
To date, Invader has released a demo, an EP called In Mundane Existence, and just last month a split EP with Mystvale, a dungeon synth artist:
"He’s a friend of mine from Rovaniemi, Finland, and he’s a crazy musical genius and nerd," explained Walle about the Mystvale collaboration. "He and I had been talking for a long time about that it would be cool to use his dungeon synth stuff for some of my bands in some way, and when we started Invader it felt like a perfect combination to do a split together.
"We’ve tried to add more of an eerie feeling in our writing lately to make it more interesting. Both that kind of dark or scary melodic vibe in riffs and also with synth stuff. We think that this kind of melodic, or maybe medieval vibe in hardcore fits perfectly with Mystvale’s old-school dungeon synth.
"We went on a weekender in March down south in Sweden after we had just released the split and a lot of people instantly said the same thing to us. So it feels like people understood what we wanted to do with the split and that’s an incredibly rewarding feeling."
If you run a record label and are reading this, Invader are eager to stay busy. "We’ve started to write new material hopefully for an LP so we will continue to work on that and channel the energy that we’ve got from releasing the split into that process.
"We want to play as many shows as possible and we have some plans for upcoming shows abroad as well that we’re beyond psyched for!"
In classic No Echo fashion, I bugged Walle for some Swedish music reccos, and homeboy not only provided the goods, he also threw in some Finnish heat into the mix. "You should check out Akimbo, Blood Will Tell, Existence, Speedway, Feels Like Heaven, Bulls Shitt, Size Up, Dogfight, Master Killer, Sidestep, Stay Down, Forced Humility, Fools Die, Killing Frost, Dead at Birth, Gray State. There’s many more where that comes from, Sweden and Finland hardcore is on fire…
"Also, there's so many but to name a few, follow these accounts on Instagram to keep up with some of what’s happening in hardcore in Sweden and Finland:
- Acting Out Stockholm
- Moral Panic Records
- Circuit Breaker Bookings
- Löpeld Hardcore
- Bring Da Ruckus
- Eastbound Bookings
- Örebro Hardcore
- Flubber Zine
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Invader on social media: Instagram
Umeå, Sweden Hardcore playlist
Tagged: invader
